WSU Cougar
Baseball will play Saint Mary’s of California in a four-game series beginning Thursday
at 4 p.m., says WSU Sports Info. Game action at Brayton-Bailey Field on the
Washington State campus in Pullman.
……………….
Three
Cougars Earn Pac-12 All-Academic Honors
From WSU
Sports Info
LAS VEGAS,
Nev. – Three Washington State University men’s basketball student-athletes
earned 2018 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball All-Academic honors, conference
commissioner, Larry Scott, announced Thursday.
Sophomore
Jeff Pollard was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team, his classmate,
Malachi Flynn was named to the second team and redshirt freshman Milan Acquaah
earned honorable mention. The honors are the first for all three who are each
in their first year of eligibility for the accolades.
The three
honorees marks the third time under fourth-year head coach Ernie Kent that
multiple student-athletes have picked up all-academic honors, and the second
time three or more have. Prior to Kent arriving on the Palouse, a Cougar hadn’t
been named first team all-academic since 2011. Pollard becomes the 18th Cougar
to earn first team all-academic for the 28th time.
WSU tied
for second-most honorees with three, behind Oregon State which had four.
Stanford and Utah each had three make the all-academic teams as well. The
Cougars had the second-most honorees on the first and second teams (two),
behind only the Beavers with three.
A native
of Bountiful, Utah, Pollard is undeclared with a 3.72 grade point average. He
intends on double majoring in business and communication. Pollard has appeared
in 26 games this year, including three starts, averaging 3.8 points and 1.8
rebounds an outing.
Flynn, a
native of Tacoma, Wash., is also undeclared with a 3.48 GPA. He intends to
major in sport management. Flynn has started 29 of WSU’s 30 games this season,
as he’s second on the team with 15.6 points per game, adding a team-best and
ranking eighth in the Pac-12 with 4.3 assists per game. Flynn has made 74
3-pointers this season and is on pace to finish in the WSU top-10 for
single-season 3-pointers.
A native
of Bakersfield, Calif., Acquaah is also undeclared with a 3.04 GPA and intends
to major in sport management. He is in his first year playing after redshirting
as a true freshman in 2016-17. He’s appeared in 29 games this season with nine
starts, averaging 4.7 points and 2.0 assists per game.
One team
of five student-athletes make up the first team, followed by the next five
making up the second team. All others nominated receive honorable mention
accolades. To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete
must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be either a starter or
significant contributor and in at least their second year at the respective
school.
2017-18
PAC-12 ALL-ACADEMIC - MEN’S BASKETBALL
First Team
Name,
School, Yr., GPA, Major
Nick
Hamilton, CAL, Sr., 3.75, Media studies & legal studies
Jeff
Pollard, WSU, So., 3.72, Undeclared
Dorian
Pickens***, STAN, Sr., 3.42, Communication
Gligorije
Rakocevic**, OSU, Jr., 3.70, Digital communication arts
Stephen
Thompson Jr.** OSU Jr. 3.53 Digital communication arts
Second
Team
Name,
School, Yr., GPA, Major
Malachi
Flynn, WSU, So., 3.48, Undeclared
Jayce
Johnson, UTAH, So., 3.49, Psychology
Chimezie
Metu, USC, Jr., 3.18, Law, history & culture
Tres
Tinkle**, OSU, R-So., 3.42, Speech communication
Parker Van
Dyke**, UTAH, Jr., 3.26, Economics
Pac-12
Men’s Basketball Honorable Mention All-Academic
Milan
Acquaah (WSU, R-Fr.), Robert Cartwright (STAN, R-Jr.), David Collette (UTAH,
Sr.), Drew Eubanks (OSU, Jr.), Shannon Evans II (ASU, Sr.), Kodi Justice (ASU,
Sr.), Jordan McLaughlin (USC, Sr.), Alex Olesinski (UCLA, R-So.), Kodye Pugh
(STAN, R-Fr.), Keith Smith (ORE, So.), Thomas Welsh (UCLA, Sr.).
***
three-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree; ** two-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree
:::::::::::::::::::::
SU seniors
spend 4 years volunteering, giving back to community
By Kara McMurray, Moscow Pullman Daily News
Mar 6, 2018
When
Washington State University seniors Serena Ranney and Diana Bergstrom first
came to Pullman almost four years ago, they didn’t know each other. They became
friends when living on the same floor of a residence hall, and now they’re
roommates, best friends and deeply involved in both the WSU and Pullman
communities.
“Once you
start getting involved, you realize there’s a lot going on,” Ranney said.
As
freshmen, Ranney and Bergstrom went to WSU’s annual All Campus Picnic together.
There, Ranney was specifically seeking information about Circle K
International, the collegiate program of Kiwanis International. She had been
involved in the high school version, Key Club, at her Shelton, Wash., high
school, and she knew she wanted to continue that involvement.
Bergstrom
also wanted to be involved, but she wasn’t sure in what. When she learned more
about CKI from Ranney, she decided to start there. Bergstrom is now the
president of CKI, and she also serves as an ambassador at the College of
Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences and as the education chair
for the WSU Student Swine Cooperative. Ranney is serving as the vice president
of CKI, as well as a lab assistant in the School of Food Science and the
president of the Food Science Club.
One thing
that became apparent to them as they were serving with CKI was the variety of
needs in the Pullman and WSU communities, and some of those are met already
through organizations such as the Center for Civic Engagement at WSU.
“WSU in
general has such an emphasis on service,” Ranney said. “So what we’re trying to
do is meet those needs that we don’t always see being met.”
This takes
some research, at times.
“We’re
finding niches and connections that aren’t typical things,” Ranney said.
“And we’re
encouraging our members to go and find a project,” Bergstrom added.
An example
of a not-so-typical project that CKI completed was with the Whitman County
Humane Society.
“Humane
societies get a lot of volunteering, but we’ve made dog toys out of T-shirts,”
Bergstrom said.
“They’re
not going to need 15 people petting cats, so we did that to meet another need,”
Ranney added.
Organizing
these types of service projects has been fulfilling for Ranney.
“Planning
service projects is like my Netflix,” she said. “The way I relax is by planning
service projects.”
With CKI,
the two have grown into their leadership experiences and are preparing to pass
the torch to new officers, as both are set to graduate in May.
“Letting
go, it’s kind of hard, but we had this vision for the organization and it’s
exciting, too, to see what’s in store,” Ranney said.
Ranney
said she is sad to be leaving Pullman soon, but she plans to continue her
involvement wherever she goes. She is looking to work in quality assurance.
“I’m
looking at companies that have a strong emphasis in philanthropy,” she said.
“I’ve applied to places all over.”
Bergstrom
plans to take a year off school to go home to Lake Forest, Calif., where she
plans to job shadow and work in a clinic before applying to vet school. Right
now, she is looking into the WSU and Oregon State University programs.
Both
encouraged others to get involved.
“It’s
never too late to join something new. Just ask,” Ranney said. “In all
likelihood, they’re begging for people to join them.”
Involvement,
they said, also leads to a lot of support.
“The
Pullman Kiwanis advisors, both from the WSU faculty and Kiwanis, they’ve been
completely essential to the success we’ve had,” Bergstrom said.
“There’s
way more support than you think there is,” Ranney added. “Every single group
there is, there’s a family there. There’s a group of people
rooting
for you.”
::::::::::::::::::::::::
‘We are
the first responders’: Panelists talk about suicide at WSU
By Taylor
Nadauld, Moscow Pullman Daily News 3/6/2018
Kevin
Berthia was just 22 years old when, in 2005, he stood on the edge of the Golden
Gate Bridge in San Francisco, ready to end his life.
On Monday,
he sat next to the man who talked him off the bridge, retired California
Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Briggs, to offer hope and advice on suicide
prevention to an audience in Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.
The two
were joined by Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, of Broward County, Fla., to speak in a
panel called “Hope Is Here,” a suicide awareness event sponsored by the Associated
Students of Washington State University Mental Health Awareness Subcommittee.
Each
panelist shared his or her personal connection to the topic of mental health
and suicide. For Briggs, while his profession forced him to confront people
attempting suicide on a weekly basis, he was battling his own struggle with
depression. He currently takes two medications to treat the condition, but
admitting he struggled was the first step of the battle.
“It was
years and years and years before I talked about this to anybody,” Briggs said.
“I thought I would lose friends, some of my family might not talk to me, I
didn’t know what was going to happen. Maybe I’d lose my job. How can you carry
a gun and be on depression meds?”
What
happened when he finally came forward, Briggs said, was nothing, except he was
able to start talking in front of audiences across the country about suicide
prevention and awareness and help people in need.
Berthia
also struggled with confronting his depression, a condition he said he has
lived with his entire life and which he inherited from his mother.
“Growing
up in Oakland, Calif., I grew up pretty much around an African-American
dominant community. We pretty much didn’t talk about mental health,” Berthia
said. “I didn’t hear the word ‘suicide’ until I was 19 years old. Didn’t know
anything about depression. Yet, I battled it every single day.”
The
panelists emphasized the importance of not just talking about mental health,
but seeking treatment for it just like any other medical issue.
Lerner-Wren
discussed the benefits of access to treatment and counseling for those in need.
She said she made the decision to prioritize suicidal prevention as a judge,
presiding over the country’s first mental health court, where she outsourced
more than 20,000 defendants into programs rather than incarceration.
Lerner-Wren
comes from Broward County, Fla., where, last month, 17 people died in a
shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. She said she understands the
grief the WSU community is facing in the midst of the death of its former
Cougars quarterback, Tyler Hilinski, and she offered her condolences.
Briggs
said even as a trained officer, he sometimes missed the signs of suicide. He
said people should not beat themselves up if the signs are missed.
Berthia
pleaded with the audience to pay attention to their peers, check in with them
and look for changes in behavior. Make a goal to talk to 20 people a day and
ask them how they are doing, he said. When Briggs took the time to stand with
him on the bridge in his moment of crisis, Berthia said, “For the first time in
my life, I was heard.”
Briggs
said listening to understand was the main piece of advice the audience should
take from the event. Lerner-Wren said being loving is key.
Some in
the audience and the panel applied that advice the same evening, when, during a
question-and-answer period, a man approached the microphone to say he had been
experiencing suicidal thoughts himself. He was embraced with a hug from
Berthia, praise for his bravery and cheers of support from the audience.
If you are
experiencing thoughts of suicide, call your local crisis line or the National
Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.
::::::::::::::::
Washington
State forward Robert Franks named Pac-12’s Most Improved, earns honorable
mention
UPDATED:
Mon., March 5, 2018, 11:25 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson Spokane S-R
Robert
Franks keyed the Washington State Cougars in a few of their best games and he
was often the lone bright spot in some of their worst.
On the
heels of a turnaround junior season, Franks was named the Most Improved Player
in the Pac-12 Conference and earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention when the
league handed out its end-of-season awards Monday. The third-year forward was
the only WSU player recognized on the all-conference ballot.
Franks
became a full-time starter for the Cougars this season, doubling his
minutes-per-game average from 16.4 as a sophomore to 32.7 as a junior. The
Vancouver, Washington, native nearly tripled his scoring average, from 6.3
points last season to 17.4 this year, and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per game after
mustering 3.3 in 2016-17.
Franks had
nine games of scoring 20 points or more and he poured in a career-high 34
points in WSU’s 78-53 win over Cal, setting a school record with 10 3-pointers.
He improved his 3-point shooting percentage from 31 percent to 40 percent and
made 85 percent of his free throws after managing 75 percent as a junior.
Additionally, Franks totaled 58 assists this season, compared to 24 last year.
Franks is
the second WSU player to earn Most Improved in four years and the third in six
years.
Former
Cougar Josh Hawkinson was recognized after drastically improving his numbers
between his freshman and sophomore seasons. Hawkinson improved his scoring by
13.5 ppg and his rebounding by 9.2 rpg. Brock Motum became the first WSU player
to claim the honor, winning it in 2012.
Arizona’s
freshman sensation, DeAndre Ayton, was named Pac-12 Player of the Year after
leading the conference in rebounding at 11.4 board per game. Ayton’s 19.9 ppg
ranks second in the Pac-12. Washington’s Matisse Thybulle was selected as the
Defensive Player of the Year, Arizona State’s Remy Martin and Colorado’s
Dominique Collier split Sixth Man of the Year, while Stanford’s Dorian Pickens
was tabbed Scholar Athlete of the Year.
UW coach
Mike Hopkins was named Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to their
first 20-win season since 2011-12. Washington, which finished 9-22 and 2-16 in
the Pac-12 last season, went 20-11 and 10-8 in 2017-18.
Filling
out the All-Pac-12 First Team were Ayton and Allonzo Trier of Arizona, Jordan
McLaughlin and Chimezie Metu of USC, UCLA’s Aaron Holiday, Utah’s Justin
Bibbins, Washington’s Noah Dickerson, Oregon State’s Tres Tinkle and Stanford’s
Reid Travis.
::::::::::::::::::::
Men’s
basketball
Last
chance to make the big dance
Cougars
have to win four games in four days to earn Pac-12 tournament title
By COLIN
CONNOLLY, Evergreen March 6, 2018
WSU men’s
basketball will look to win a first-round game in the Pac-12 tournament for the
first time since the 2008-2009 season when they take on University of Oregon on
Wednesday.
The
Cougars (12-18, 4-14) split the regular season meetings with the Ducks (20-11,
10-8), with WSU taking the most recent game between the two teams 78-76 on
Thursday.
Sophomore
guard Malachi Flynn said after the game that the Cougars are finally starting
to find their identity.
“We are
just really confident right now,” he said. “We are playing together, we trust
each other and we trust the coaches.”
:::::::::::::::::
This
confidence didn’t translate into a win in the Cougars’ final game of the season
against Oregon State University, but the team is looking past that defeat and
focusing on moving forward to the conference tournament.
Redshirt
senior forward Drick Bernstine said the Cougars need to fix the mistakes they
made against the Beavers and play with more mental and physical toughness.
“We need
to refocus, that’s really all you can do,” Bernstine said. “We have to throw
[the last game] out of the window. It’s over, there’s nothing we can do about
it.”
Head Coach
Ernie Kent made a point of playing the bench players in the 25-point loss to
Oregon State. He said he didn’t do it to give the starters rest or let them see
it from the bench, but to give the backups playing time.
Kent said
three priorities for the team when playing the Beavers ahead of the tourney
were to restore sophomore guard Carter Skaggs’ shooting ability, get junior
guard Kwinton Hinson healthy and increase playing time for redshirt freshman
forward Arinze Chidom.
“We’re
going to need numbers and depth in Vegas when you play four games in four
days,” Kent said.
Bernstine
said the team is extremely focused on going to the Pac-12 tournament and
becoming conference champions. He said nobody wants to get blown out or lose in
the first game.
This team
already has a tournament win under its belt, from the Wooden Legacy tournament
in November. Bernstine said the team has proven it can win a tournament and has
the confidence to do it again.
Kent said
the Pac-12 tournament brings some freshness to a team like WSU, because they
aren’t young and inexperienced anymore.
He said the Cougars need to make sure the right team shows up in Las
Vegas.
WSU comes
into the tournament winning three of its last six games after a seven-game
losing streak. The Ducks have a similar record over the past six games, and are
coming off a 72-64 victory over University of Washington on Saturday.
Kent said
the great thing about the tournament is that the entire regular season is
behind them. Every team is 0-0, and as long as they continue to win, they keep
playing.
“Our
destiny lies in the Pac-12 tournament,” Kent said.
Tipoff is
set for 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game
can also be viewed live on Pac-12 Networks.
:::::::::
Family of former WSU quarterback Tyler
Hilinski releases statement
Updated: Mar 5, 2018 - 5:36 PM
From
KIRO7.com
The family of former Washington State
University quarterback Tyler Hilinski, who was found dead from suicide in
January, released this statement on CougCenter.com.
Our Dearest Cougs and Football
Families:
From the bottom of our broken hearts,
we are writing today to thank you all for your outpouring of love and support,
words of kindness and encouragement, and most of all, the amazing amount of
love you've shown for our son Tyler.
From the spring games to the fall
scrimmages and camps and the games every weekend ... in class and around town
... he was touched by all of you. And so are we. Please accept this note as a
very small thank you on behalf of the entire Hilinski family for every text,
email, card, flower, prayer, poem and dollar raised in support of keeping
Tyler's memory alive. It is important to us that we tell you how much this
means to us and will continue to help support us in the darkest days ahead. Let
them never stop.
Most of you probably never got to know all the
little things about Tyler that touched so many people, but I suspect you must
have seen a few: His sense of humor, his gentle nature and his ferocious
loyalty, his fearless play and his love for his team. He loved his family and
he loved being a Coug. That was Tyler. He came to Pullman to go to join a
bigger family. He was adopted by you; he was loved down in Lewiston and up in
Spokane and out to Seattle … and even on the road … Pullman was his new home.
He wanted to make his Cougs everywhere proud. However brief his time was with
us, he made the most of it.
Our "comeback kid" always
expected good things to happen. He believed in you and the power of "Go
Cougs." There was always enough time on the clock to make one more play.
He wanted us all to be happy and good to each other. We were so proud of the
man he was becoming. Far from perfect, but as close to trying as they come. He
was so excited to show you that this year.
We wish we could tell you what
happened. The reality is we simply don't know. He didn't quit. He didn't give
up on you. For some reason, he had no choice but to leave us. Don't waste a
second thinking he was weak. People leave for many reasons. We will spend a
lifetime trying to understand this. Don't be mad or angry; he didn't do this to
you or to us. He was not well in a way not one of us knew. He fought bravely …
but ultimately, he lost alone.
Link to
read the entire letter on CougCenter.com:
:::::::::::::::
LINKS
==Gabe
Marks: Understanding Air Raid begins with time and space
When a QB
like Luke Falk is double pumping, wideouts are playing micro ball rather than
macro
==Ryan
Leaf on new Pac-12 SiriusXM channel launched today
CouGreat
Erik Coleman will also serve as radio personality
==
Mata’afa at NFL combine clocks better than expected 40 time
Clips of
Coug's day in Indy
#
